Raiders coaching search: Raiders to interview Todd Bowles

The Las Vegas Raiders have long been rumored to be interested in Todd Bowles as a head coaching candidate and that potential pairing took a necessary step toward happening on Tuesday.

ESPN reported that the Raiders have asked the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for permission to speak to their defensive coordinator about their vacant head coaching job. He is scheduled to be in Las Vegas for an interview on Thursday.

There are now four head coaching candidates that the Raiders have either interviewed or asked to interview. They interviewed interim head coach Rich Bisaccia last week. They are talking to New England inside linebacker coach Jerod Mayo on Tuesday and they are expected to talk to San Francisco defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans next week after the 49ers play in the NFC championship game Tuesday. Ryans reportedly may be a top candidate in Minnesota.

Bowles is the only candidate currently on the Raiders’ interview list that has been a full-time head coach before. Bowles, 58 has been an NFL coach for 22 years and he was the head coach of the New York Jets from 2015-18. He was 26-41 with the Jets.

Bowles, who played in the NFL for eight seasons, is known as a strong defensive mind who gets a lot out of his players. He is highly respected. He is also a candidate in Minnesota and in Jacksonville.

The Raiders have interviewed five candidates for the open general manager job and that could be filled prior to the head coach position.